GA II
by Gentlewolf
Summary: It has been 3 years since the conflict with the Elementary School Principal. A lot of changes have occurred at Gakuen Alice. This story follows after my "New Years Beginning" fic. Includes Mikan, Natsume, Yuka, Hotaru, Ruka, Yuu, Tsubasa & Misaki.
1. Prologue

**GA II**

**Prologue**

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**Author Note:** Well, here it is. The start of my new Continuation Fanfic. This story was inspired by my Gakuen Alice New Years fanfic, **New Years Beginning**, that I wrote for the _GakuenAlice-club_ in DeviantArt for their _Christmas/New Years contest_. This series could be considered to be a continuation of **New Years Beginning.**

This fic follows the Manga. At this point I have read up to Ch. 107 of the **Gakuen Alice Manga.** I have invented my own conclusion to the Manga and have invented my own continuation story. Keep in mind that the Manga has not yet ended, I do not know how it will end, and everything I have written is based on my own thoughts and idea that the Manga is heading towards it's conclusion. However, don't take my word for it. I am not the original creator of Gakuen Alice. I don't know what the plans are for the remainder of the Manga. This is a Fanfic. So, no flaming please. Any and all flaming will be ignored and promptly deleted.

Please Review and let me know what you think of this introduction. I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Thank you!

**Disclaimer:** **Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana._ I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

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"Let me take it! Please, let me take your Alice!" Mikan was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed holding his hands firmly between her own. Her tears pooled in her large brown eyes as she pleaded to do the only thing that she thought could save his life.

"Do you realize what you are asking? If you steal my Alice, I can no longer stay with you here, at the academy," his voice repeated through her head.

"But you'll be alive!" Mikan continued to plead with him. She hadn't ever thought that her stealing Alice would ever be good for anything. She thought back to the time when the conflict with the Elementary School Principal was yet unresolved. Noda sensei had taken her and her friends on a visit to the past in order so that Mikan could learn about her mother, Azumi Yuka. She had seen how the Elementary School Principal had used her mother's stealing Alice for his own ominous desires when she was younger.

They were working to change all of that now. The battle with the Elementary School Principal was over. He had been stripped of his position at Gakuen Alice and was now being held in a maximum-security prison for his transgressions. The Academy had been reforged into a safe haven for all Alice owners. The Dangerous Type Abilities class was now the Special Alice Protection and Preservation Unit, of which her mother was in charge. The unit was formed of Alice owners who voluntarily wished to protect the academy and all Alice owners from outside and inside threats. This was to insure that nothing like the previous incident with the Elementary School Principal would ever happen again. Anyone who was deemed to have a "dangerous Alice" were fitted with an Alice control device and taught how to control their Alice. A new class was also introduced into the curriculum, called Alice Mastery & Awareness, which taught that any Alice could be dangerous, if used wrong, and taught how to master your Alice so that you are not a threat to others. Azumi Yuka was the teacher in charge of this new class.

Slow progress was being made also in which students who showed significant progress and control over their Alice, or those whose Alice wasn't innately dangerous, were allowed visitation with their families outside of the academy.

"As long as you are alive then there is hope that I will see you again," Mikan found herself pleading in the hospital room again.

The scene switched and suddenly Mikan found herself sitting in the hospital waiting room. Hotaru sat beside her, holding her hand. Ruka sat to her other side, holding her other hand. Yo-chan, in his 14-year-old form, was sitting behind her with his arms wrapped around her shoulders. The waiting room was filled with her classmates. Her mother paced the room anxiously.

Mikan squeezed Hotaru and Ruka's hands tightly when the doctor walked through the door, his mastery over the control of his emotions left his face impossible to read. "The procedure was a complete success," he spoke after taking a moment to single Mikan out from the crowded room. "Congratulations, you did it," he told her with a smile.

Mikan's lungs burned with the need for air, reminding her to breath. At that moment, Imai-san, Hotaru's older brother, appeared in the doorway. Mikan pulled free from her friends and tackled him, clinging to him tightly as she cried with relief into his shirt. "Thank you, Thank you!" Mikan sobbed happily.

Once again, the scene changed. Mikan stood in front of the large gated entrance onto the Academy. She watched as a black car pulled up on the other side. The gate was opened to allow for the vehicle to drive onto the school grounds. Her heart pounded with both happiness and sorrow. Sorrow because she wasn't sure when she would see him again, but happiness that he was about to be reunited with his family. He gently squeezed her hand reassuringly as the passenger side door to the vehicle flung upon and a girl with shoulder length black hair and crimson eyes leapt out and ran towards them. "ONIISAN!!" She exclaimed as she leapt into her brother's arms. Shortly after the girl was hugging Mikan tightly. "Thank you, Mikan-chan!

The scene seemed to fast-forward through her memories. Through the happy reunion and the heart wrenching good-bye. Soon Mikan was watching the car pull away. The tint of the car's windows were too dark, leaving it impossible to see whether those who were inside waved or watched as she slowly disappeared from their sight.

Mikan's eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring up at her ceiling. It was still dark as she awoke from her dream. It was the same dream that she had been having for the past few nights. Automatically she reached up and felt around her neck for the chain that she seldom took off. She followed the chain around to the back of her neck, where the stone had slid through the night as she slept.

Taking hold of the stone, she slid it back around and brought it to rest on her chest, where she held it there over her heart. "Natsume," she whispered his name quietly.

Three years had past since Natsume left Gakuen Alice to live with his father and sister. Mikan was now 15-years-old. Though they kept in touch for the first couple of years, they had slowly drifted apart. Mikan became increasingly involved with the operations of the Special Alice Protection and Preservation Unit along with the Alice Mastery & Awareness class and the Families Reunite Project at Gakuen Alice.

Though she had been allowed to visit with the Hyuuga family a few times, her abilities became a necessary commodity in order to allow the students of the academy to have occasional weekend visits with their families under the "Families Reunite Project." It was decided that for the safety of the students, after a couple of near kidnapping incidents during the early stages of the project, Mikan and her mother would "steal" the student's Alice for the time that they were away from the academy. With only she and her mother able to perform this task, and with her involvement with the other academy affairs, Mikan had limited time to leave Gakuen Alice, herself.

Mikan rolled to her side in order to peer at her clock. It was 4:28 in the morning. With a groan she continued to roll onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow. It was too early. She sighed and turned her head to the side to stare at her shadowed wall. Her attention returned to her dream. Though she hadn't actually seen Natsume in the dream, the scenes had been pulled directly from her memory. She wondered why she hadn't been able to actually see him, yet she had felt him there. She had felt him gently squeeze her hand as he had the day that he left the Academy.

Natsume's Alice had been fire, and its shape was limitless, meaning that he could use it anytime, as much and as often as he liked. However, the price for overusing the Alice would have been his life. Natsume had nearly died as a result of his Alice. In order to save his life, Mikan had used her stealing Alice to take Natsume's fire Alice. Hotaru's older brother, who had the healing Alice, then set to the task of healing the damage that the overuse of the fire Alice had done to Natsume's body. Because of their success, Natsume's life had been saved. However, because he no longer had an Alice, he was no longer allowed to stay at the academy. He returned to his family home to live with his father and sister.

During the battle with the Elementary School Principal, Natsume had more or less confessed that he loved her. Though they weren't "officially" together, it was implied that they were a couple. Everyone believed that they were, even though their relationship was a long distance one. Through the first couple of years they exchanged letters, mail was no longer limited to the students at Gakuen Alice, and Mikan had been allowed to visit with Natsume at his father's home a few times. It was nearly a year since Mikan had heard from him. Though she sent a few letters throughout that time, he hadn't bothered to reply.

Mikan reached for the stone that hung around her neck. If it weren't for the darkness of the room one would see that the stone was a brilliant shade of red. It was Natsume's Alice stone. Her mother had it made into a necklace at Mikan's request. The fact that she always wore it, to most of her friends, claimed her as being Natsume's girlfriend. Though he hadn't actually said anything about it, Natsume appeared pleased to see it around her neck during her visits.

It hurt to think about her time spent with the Hyuuga's. Especially because she had no idea what was going on. Why hadn't he replied to any of her letters? Was he okay? Did they move? Had he found a girlfriend at his new school? Phones were limited to the students at the academy as was the use of the Internet, which was programmed only to allow for certain sites to be accessed and e-mail wasn't allowed, as a security precaution.

Realizing that she wasn't going to get back to sleep, Mikan pushed herself up from her bed and walked across the dark room to her desk. She switched on her desktop lamp and sat, making the decision to send one more letter.

The light from the morning sun illuminated the room by the time that Mikan finished the letter. She folded and slid it into an envelope that she addressed to Hyuuga Natsume. Placing the letter in her school bag, Mikan went about her morning routine in preparation for class. She would be graduating soon, from the Jr. High Division. Likewise, Tsubasa and Misaki Senpai would be graduating from High School. They were to be married over the summer.

As she pulled the shirt of her spring uniform over her head there was a knock on her door. "Coming," she answered, pulling her long hazel colored hair out of her shirt, not having yet pulled it up into a pony tail, and walking to her door to answer. She opened her door to reveal her mother standing in the hallway. Mikan stared at her in surprise. It wasn't often that her mother made a visit to her dorm room. In fact, Mikan wasn't sure that it had ever happened before now. Usually they met in her mother's office or classroom. Azumi Yuka had been given the position of the Elementary School Principal after the former Principal was stripped of the position. "Azumi-sensei," Mikan said with a hint of surprise, using the name that the other students used when addressing her mother. Mikan found it difficult to call the woman "mother," having only known her for 3 years, during which they shared more of a teacher/student relationship then a mother/daughter one. "C…come in," Mikan invited, stepping back from the door to allow room for her mother to come into the room.

Yuka stepped into her daughter's room cautiously, realizing that this was the first time she had ever been there. A twinge of guilt surged through her stomach over how little she had actually acted like a mother towards her daughter. She wasn't sure that she had the right to be there now, to act as a parent. Yuka walked to the middle of the room where she stood, trying to gather her thoughts.

Mikan watched awkwardly as her mother walked slowly into the room. Mikan was so surprised by the sudden visit that she stammered with the right words to say. "So….uh….what's going on? Is there something wrong?"

After taking a deep breath, Yuka turned to face her daughter, who still stood by the door, holding it open. "I wanted to talk to you about something…..to be the first to tell you," she stumbled in saying.

Mikan closed the door as if in slow motion. The tension between them was obvious. Neither knew how to react towards the other. "S…sure," Mikan replied. "Wont you sit down?" Mikan asked politely, motioning towards her desk chair. Once the door was closed Mikan crossed the room to sit on her bed.

"Graduation is coming up," Yuka stated the obvious. Mikan nodded her head in response. "As you know, Andou Tsubasa and Harada Misaki will be graduating," Yuka said, once against stating the obvious. Again, Mikan nodded and tried not to cock an eyebrow. She wondered why her mother was interested in her Senpai's graduation ceremony all of a sudden. Granted, Yuka had saved Tsubasa back during the conflict with the Elementary School Principal, but Mikan couldn't make sense in what his graduation had to do with her mother's unexpected visit to her room.

"And Tsubasa-kun and Misaki-chan will be married this summer," Yuka added to her review of the events that would be occurring within the next couple of months. Mikan watched her mother silently, waiting for her to get to the point. Yuka swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing. "We have decided to send you, and 3 others to a high school outside of Gakuen Alice….," Yuka finally explained.


	2. Ch 1: Life outside of Alice Academy

GA II

Ch. 1 – Life outside of Alice Academy

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**Disclaimer:** **Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana._ I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

I'm going to try to update at least once a week. Of course, that completely depends on how much homework I have. Please tell me what you think of it. I Love reviews! ^_^

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Graduation day had come and gone. Tsubasa and Misaki Senpai were high school graduates. Mikan was officially entering into high school. However, she would not be doing so at Gakuen Alice. She and three of her friends were being sent outside of the Academy to attend a public high school.

Mikan was finishing her packing and preparing for the trip to what would be her home for the next 3 years. She, Hotaru, Ruka-pyon, and Inicho – though Mikan supposed she should get use to calling him Yu now – would be starting their 10th grade year at Daisen High School in the city of Daisen.

Her mother, Azumi Yuka, had explained the schools objective for sending four of their students outside of Alice Academy to Mikan the week before Graduation. They wished to find out if it was possible to integrate Alices into public schools and learn what risks and benefits might result in doing so. The reasons for this experiment were not explained to her. Mikan wasn't sure that she liked the idea of being used as a guinea pig for the Academy and was surprised that her mother had agreed to the matter. There could be many risks involved. In the past when they first started the "Families Reunite Project," there had been a couple of attempted kidnappings from those who had been allies of the previous Elementary School Principal, those who had employed in his services to use the Alices to their benefit. They were the people for whom Natsume had often been forced to work by Persona. If any of them discovered that 4 potentially useful Alices were outside of the protection of the Academy walls, then surely they would attempt kidnap and/or coercion.

Gakuen Alice was not sending them without some sort of protection though. In fact, they would be living with Tsubasa and Misaki, who chose to work for the Academy after graduating. Their unique Alices would prove to be an effective defense against the risk of an attack.

"You almost finished?" Ruka asked from her open bedroom door.

"Do you need help with anything?" Inicho asked from where he stood beside Ruka.

Mikan zipped her bag, which contained all of her personal belongings, and lifted it from the bed to turn towards them with a nod. She didn't have much to pack. The Academy had provided for their necessities. Gakuen Alice owned the home in Daisen, and it was already fully furnished.

"I'll take that," both Ruka and Yu said together as they both moved to walk through the door at the same time to take her bag. They both became stuck within the doorframe and stared at one another for a moment in surprise.

"It's okay, I've got it," Mikan replied, unable to suppress her laugher when her two male friends finally managed to push themselves through the doorway. "It's not heavy," she continued to say when they both continued towards her to take the bag. Ruka and Yu grabbed for the bag at the same time. Mikan took a step back out of their way, causing them to grab one another's hand. The guys glared at one another for a split second and instantly dropped the other's hands. The entire scene happened within the matter of a few seconds. Mikan watched the scene and sweat dropped. "Honestly, guys, I've got it. Why don't you go see if Hotaru-chan needs any help," Mikan suggested.

"Oh, um…s…sure," Yu said, taking a step back and glancing out of the corner of his eyes at Ruka.

"Okay," Ruka said after a moment. "If you're sure you've got everything."

Mikan nodded her reply and watched as they turned to leave. Once they were out the door Mikan sat on the edge of her bed with a sigh of relief. She wondered what in the world was going on between those two. They had always been two of her closest friends. Throughout the past year they had both become strangely competitive with one another. It was strange to see, but the confrontations usually never created more then a few seconds of tension.

Throughout the past year, Yu had changed. Not in a bad way. He was still Inicho, the class representative, but he started to act towards her more like how Ruka did, rather then as the friend that he had been since Mikan had first come to Gakuen Alice. His appearance had changed throughout Jr. High. He didn't have so much of a baby face anymore and he had grown taller. In fact, he actually had quite a few girls interested in him.

Since Mikan hadn't received any letters from Natsume in nearly a year, Ruka was acting differently towards her too. He acted more like he did before she and Natsume became a couple.

Mikan loved them both as friends, but all of their doting on her had become somewhat overwhelming. She wondered how things were going to turn out in their new home in Daisen. The home was a three-bedroom house. Ruka and Yu would be sharing a room, as would Mikan and Hotaru.

"Hey Kiddo, you ready to go?" A familiar voice said from the door. Mikan looked up to see her Senpai, Tsubasa, leaning against the doorway.

Mikan stood quickly and instantly smiled. "Yup," she said, walking towards him.

At the door Tsubasa took her bag and ruffled her hair. He could always see right through her. "You going to miss this place?" He asked, misreading her distracted mood.

"I suppose," Mikan said, deciding not to mention Ruka and Yu's strange actions.

Tsubasa nodded, assuming that his observation was correct and didn't question her further. "Yeah, I will too," he admitted, placing his free hand at the small of her back to lead her down the hall. "Misaki is waiting downstairs."

There was a moving truck waiting outside of the Hotaru's lab. The movers, along with Ruka and Yu, finished loading Hotaru's various materials to be used for inventions and a few of her robots, including a maid that she had created to do all of the housework in Daisen. Two cars waited to take them to their destination. Keeping her position between Tsubasa and Misaki, Mikan chose to ride with them in the hopes to lesson the tension between Ruka and Yu.

It was a long trip, from the Academy to Daisen. They rode mostly in silence, each lost to their own thoughts. With Tsubasa sitting between Misaki and Mikan, both females fell asleep with their head rested against his shoulder. Tsubasa sat with his arms around them both.

While she slept, Mikan pictured a pair of crimson eyes through the dark. As her dream came into focus, Natsume materialized before her, starting with his face and moving down his body. She reached out for him, but he turned sharply away from her and started to walk away. "Natsume!" She called out in her dream, chasing after him, but never catching up. When he stopped, she stopped. Her surroundings were materializing around her. Soon she found herself on a long stone path surrounded by trees. Natsume also stood on the path in the distance. She called out his name again, but he didn't acknowledge her. Mikan started to walk forward, amazed to find that she was closing the distance between them. Impatiently she began to run, until she stood in front of him. "Natsume," she said, trying to get his attention, but he stared right through her. "It's me, Mikan!" She exclaimed, grabbing for his shoulders. However, her hands went right through his body and fell back to her side. Mikan stared in astonishment as he continued to stare right through her, as if she wasn't even there. Then, starting at his feet and moving up his body, he began to disappear, until she only saw his pair of crimson eyes staring through her. "Natsume!" She cried out again in her dream, and was suddenly startled awake.

Tsubasa ran his hand down her arm and shook her gently. "Time to wake up sleepy head," he was saying. Misaki was already awake and stared at Mikan around Tsubasa.

"We're home," Misaki told her with a smile.

Mikan straightened up and rubbed her fists into her eyes. Tsubasa reclaimed his arm from around her shoulder. "Home?" Mikan asked in surprise, blinking the remnants of her dream away and staring out the car window. Before her stood a two story white house located in a small neighborhood that contained houses of similar design. Her view became obscured when someone walked into her line of sight. It was Yu. Ruka followed behind him as they both walked up the walk towards the house. Hotaru stood on the sidewalk waiting for Mikan.

Misaki opened the car door on her side of the vehicle and stood up. Tsubasa slid out after her and walked around the car to open Mikan's door when she didn't move to do so on her own. "Come on, sleepy head," he said as he waited for her to get out of the car.

Mikan slowly stood; she was still in a daze over her dream. "First one in gets first dibs on their room!" Ruka called, trying to get Mikan's attention.

Tsubasa took her elbow to guide her away from the car so that he could close the door. Hotaru took a couple of steps towards her from the sidewalk and held her arm out for Mikan to take. Mikan took a shaky step towards her best friend and steadied herself on Hotaru's arm. The blood rushed down Mikan's legs as they were stretched after sitting for so long.

"We're going to get the better room if you don't hurry," Ruka called again from the front door.

Mikan shook her concerns, about the meaning of her dream, away and wrapped both of her hands around Hotaru's arm to pull her along as she ran up the walk. "Oh no you don't!" Mikan called after Ruka with a laugh.

They entered the house stepping into a large foyer that opened up on either side into a room. Before them were the staircases, one leading up to the second floor and the other leading down into the basement. The room off to the left side of the foyer was a living room. The room to the right of the foyer was a dining room. Hotaru immediately head down to inspect the basement, which she planned to turn into her laboratory. Ruka raced up the stairs, taunting Mikan to follow by claiming he would pick the better room for Yu and himself. Mikan followed up the stairs after him with Yu close behind. Misaki toured around the first floor of the house. A door on the back wall of the dining room led into the kitchen. A door on the right side wall in the kitchen led into a small hallway, which lead to a bathroom on the left and back into the living room on the right. The first floor was essentially a large circle around the staircases.

Once upstairs a hallway led to the right and to the left. There was a room, equal in size, towards the front of the house on either side of the stairs. Across the backside of the house was one large room with a dividing sliding wall down the center. The door into the room was directly in front of the stairs. The rooms were already assigned with everyone's names posted on a sheet of paper that was taped to each door. Mikan grinned triumphantly at Ruka from down the hall. Mikan and Hotaru's room was to the left of the stairs while Ruka and Yu's was to the right. The rooms were furnished with two beds, two desks, and two dressers. There were two closets on the wall that hung over the stairs.

A large bay window faced the front of the house, contained a window seat. The house looked like it had been designed and built specifically for them.

Mikan heard the movers downstairs moving Hotaru's equipment into the basement. Mikan started to walk down in order to get her bag from the car, but was met half way up by Misaki. "Why don't you come with me down town and let the guys get everything situated. You know that Hotaru will be in the basement for the rest of the day," she said "We'll go shopping for groceries and explore the town. We also need to pick up everyone's school uniforms."

Mikan nodded with a smile, grateful for the excuse to go out rather to have Ruka and Yu hovering around to help her unpack. "Do you know the way?"

Misaki grinned at her and held up the bus schedule, the map of the town, and the to-do list that she had been given back at the academy.

"We're going now," they both announced when they made it outside.

Tsubasa nodded in response from the car where he was grabbing bags out of the trunk. Ruka and Yu both looked up from where they were both unloading the second vehicle. "Where are you going?" They both called in surprise.

"Grocery shopping, boys," Misaki called over her shoulder to them with a wave of her hand as she walked down the street towards the bus station. Mikan followed her quickly after giving them an apologetic look.

Once in town, Misaki and Mikan picked up the school uniforms that had been preordered for them. They then stopped by the grocery store to pick something up for dinner. They couldn't get much, being that they were using public transportation and already had a lot to carry with the school uniforms.

When they made it back to the bus station, they had some time to wait until the next bus would arrive. Unloading their bags to sit on the bench, Misaki began to explain the bus route that they would be taking to the school. Mikan half listened as she watched the people passing by on the sidewalk. Her eyes passed over the unfamiliar faces, as she looked further down the sidewalk. It wasn't overly crowded, but there was still a good amount of people walking about. Judging by the time of day, many of them were probably on their way home from work. Her eyes fixed onto a familiar site half way down the block, a raven-haired young man with an unruly hairstyle. She stood up suddenly, startling Misaki into dropping the bus route brochure that she was showing to her. Mikan considered running after the person for a moment but had a second thought.

"Mikan, what's wrong?" Misaki asked, staring up at her in concern.

Mikan forced herself to look away from her distraction. "Nothing, I'm sorry," she said, bending to pick up the bus schedule. Of course it couldn't have been Natsume. Natsume lived with his father and sister in Kuji.

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Preview of Ch. 2:

Mikan wondered how Hotaru and Yu were doing in their classes. They had been put in an advanced class, while she and Ruka were placed in one of the more average classes. It was about the time that they would be going to their physical education class. Mikan looked out of the classroom door with dread. The halls were so crowded. Who knew that there would be so many students at this school. Suddenly, Ruka was by her side. "Ready to go?" He asked, sliding her books ontop of his own to carry for her. He was really taking advantage of the fact that Yu was in a different class.

"Sure," Mikan said and stood after taking a deep breath. Ruka followed her to the door and out into the crowded hall only to bump into her when she suddenly stopped in front of him.

Mikan heard Ruka say her name in confusion after he had bumped into her, wondering why she had stopped. Mikan felt frozen in her tracks. When she exited the classroom door she had been comfronted by a pair of crimson eyes.


	3. Ch 2: Getting Organized

GA II

Ch. 2 – Getting Organized

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**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana._ I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

**Author Note:** Thank you, Ice-Suzaku chan, for explaining that Ruka's name is actually Luka and why it is so often mixed up. Exactly as she explained it to me:

_Well, the official spelling is Luca. Higuchi-sensei also uses that spelling as written in some of her chapter covers.  
Also, Ruka was often used before because, aside from the spelling not being confirmed that time, it's the literal translation of his name's spelling.  
No L in the Janaese alphabet, right?  
But since in the Japanese raws of the manga his name had Katakana characters instead of Hiragana ones, it is really Luca ( As Katakana is often used to spell / write foreign words or names )._

So, I have changed his name from this chapter forward to Luka. I probably wont bother going back to change it in Chapter 1 though. Not enough time to do so.

Also, Things have changed, just a little. The preview that I left at the end of Ch. 1 will actually be in Ch. 3, as it took longer to explain things as I wanted them to be explained in this chapter then I was expecting. I hope no one minds too much. I already have Ch. 3 written. I just need to proof-read and edit and I might add one last paragraph to the end. After that it will be uploaded, most likely a little later this morning (it's morning for me, that is. 8:31 in the morning to be exact.) So, without further Adu, Enjoy the chapter! ^_^

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Mikan stared out of the window during the entire bus trip home. Misaki didn't question her about what happened at the bus stop. Mikan was so distracted by her thoughts that Misaki wasn't sure she even heard anything that was said. Misaki gave up after the 3rd unanswered question.

As they neared their stop, Misaki shook Mikan, lightly at first but then more forcefully, to snap her out of her thoughts. Misaki didn't have to explain her reasons. Mikan jumped up suddenly with her bags before the bus had come to a complete stop. "Careful," Misaki said, reaching out to steady her.

Mikan smiled as cheerfully as ever while muttering a word of thanks. Misaki gathered the rest of the bags and stood to exit the bus with Mikan following close behind.

"We're back," Misaki announced when they entered the house. The movers were now gone, only having had to unload Hotaru's lab equipment. The house had already been completely furnished and the only unpacking that needed to be done was anything that they personally brought with them.

"Down here," Tsubasa called from the basement where it sounded like Hotaru had put the guys to work helping her to organize what she claimed as her laboratory.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Misaki called back down to him. Mikan followed to unload the grocery bag that she carried. "I'm going to put these in our rooms and then unpack," Mikan explained, lifting the garment bags that carried their school uniforms.

"No problem," Misaki answered, deciding not to push the matter. She would send someone up to get her when it was time to eat.

Mikan retreated up the stairs and left Luka and Yu's uniforms in their room before going to her and Hotaru's room. Rather then unpack her clothes she moved to the bay window that looked out of the front of the house. Sitting in the window seat her mind wandered back to the familiar looking unruly dark hair that she had seen through the crowd on the streets while they were downtown. Surely there were a lot of guys who had the same hairstyle. Mikan had no reason to believe that it could have been Natsume. After all, he lived in Kuji.

Mikan didn't realize just how long she had been sitting there before there was a knock on the door. She blinked out of her blank daze in time to find Tsubasa walking through the door with a tray of food. "Misaki thought you might prefer to eat up here. She said that you seemed a bit odd earlier," he explained his intrusion while walking to a desk to set the tray down. He then looked around the room and noted that her bags still sat on the floor, packed. "Is everything okay? Are you sick?" He then inquired, approaching her to feel her forehead.

Mikan forced a cheerful smile. "I think I'm just a little tired after the trip," she explained, even though she slept most of the way here and had not done any physical labor during the moving process.

Tsubasa nodded in understanding though. "Just be sure you eat something before going to bed," he said, sounding more like a father then an older brother figure. "You have a bright and early day ahead of you tomorrow," he added mockingly.

Mikan laughed at his attempt to act like an authority figure. The six of them living together like this was going to prove to be rather interesting. Tsubasa ruffled her hair and turned to leave the room, saying good night before closing the door behind him.

Mikan stood and walked to the desk on which he had left the tray. On the tray sat a plate of curry. Mikan sat down to take a bite. She ate slowly while she thought. After a couple of bites she set her chopsticks down to go retrieve some paper and a pen from her bag. Returning to the desk she began to write.

_Natsume:_

_It has been so long since I have heard from you that I wonder if I have any right to send this. If you no longer wish to have anything to do with me, I will make this my last letter. Therefore, if I do not receive a reply then I will know that you have moved on._

_Above all, I hope that you are well and wanted you to know that you will always be an important person to me. _

_I am no longer at Gakuen Alice. They have sent Hotaru, Luka, Yu and I with Tsubasa and Misaki Senpai to Daisen, where we are to attend a public high school. I will include my new address with the hope that I may hear from you again. _

_Thank you, I hope to hear from you soon,_

_Mikan_

Mikan folded the letter and slide it into an envelope that she addressed to Hyuuga Natsume in Kuji Japan. Realizing that she would have to purchase stamps tomorrow after school from the post office Mikan placed the envelope into her school bag. She then finished eating her curry and began to unpack. After placing the few articles of clothing that she owned in one of the dressers or one of the closets along with her school uniform Mikan decided to go to sleep for the night.

As if no time had passed at all once she had fallen asleep, Mikan was awaken by the sound of her alarm going off. With a groan, she reached up to slap the alarm silent without opening her eyes. She was right in the middle of a dream. Mikan pulled the covers over her head upon the realization that it was her blankets that warmed her, not Natsume's arms, as it had been in her dream. When the dream began she had been on the train that she had taken a few times when going to Kuji to visit Natsume. She remembered getting off of the train and searching through the crowded station until she saw him. Natsume leaned against a wall waiting for her. The dream played through as her memories remembered everything that had happened during her last visit. Mikan rushed to greet him. Her heart leapt when he returned her hug eagerly. He wasn't normally the type who so willingly showed affection. Though she had supposed that perhaps his life had become more normal, now that he no longer had his Alice.

Absent-mindedly she reached for his Alice stone that hung around her neck. She was comforted by the thought of having a small part of him with her now. She regretfully peeked out from under the covers. Looking around the room she found that Hotaru was sleeping soundly in the bed next to hers. Mikan swung her feet over the edge of her bed and sat up. The sun shown brightly through the bay window, leaving the window pane's shadow on the floor in front of the beds. A glance at her clock revealed the early morning hour. Hotaru would surely shoot her with the Baka Gun if Mikan woke her. Instead she stood and went to her closet where she had left her school uniform the night before. She dressed in it quickly and pulled her hair into two ponytails at the base of her neck, pulling the hair over her shoulders to cover her chest. Mikan then decided to take her dinner tray down to the kitchen on her way to the bathroom. The house was quiet as she made her way down the stairs. At first she believed that she was the only one awake, until she made it into the kitchen to place the tray on the counter. She disappeared down the hall off to the right side of the kitchen, and nearly bumped into Yu on his way out of the bathroom.

"Oh, Good morning," Yu greeted her with a smile. "The new school uniform looks nice on you," he added, trying not to make it too obvious, as he looked her over. Mikan smiled and quickly thanked him. She moved to allow him through the door, but he didn't move. Mikan breathed deeply and looked at him with wide eyes when he reached to lift one of her ponytails, his fingers brushing lightly against her neck. The action was done tentatively. His hand shook slightly while he pulled his fingers gently through her hair. He watched the way her tresses slid through his fingers. For a brief second he seemed almost mesmerized by the feeling. "You've changed the way you wear you hair," he finally spoke in a low tone of voice. Mikan shifted her weight to her other foot. Yu was acting strangely again, and she wasn't sure how to react to it. "It looks nice," Yu said when the last strand fell back into position against her chest. Then, as if suddenly realizing his actions, he looked up at her with his eyes wide in shock. The color in his cheeks brightened and he quickly averted his eyes and stepped away from the bathroom door. "I'm sorry," he said hastily.

Realizing his sudden discomfort Mikan smiled cheerfully to comfort him. "Thanks," she told him without moving towards the door. "I decided, 'New School, New Look,' you know?" She laughed to ease the tension that had formed between them.

Yu looked up at her again with a smile of relief and nodded. "It looks nice," he told her again and motioned with his hand that the bathroom was free for her to use.

Mikan closed the bathroom door behind her and let out a sigh of relief. Her neck tingled where his fingers had lightly brushed when he had reached for her hair. Everything seemed so strange to her. He was a nice guy and one of her closest friends, but were he and Luca both acting so strangely around her because they liked her as more then a friend? Mikan's hands rose to her temples and she shook her head as if to rid the thought of her mind, though it was unsuccessful. Did they believe that Natsume had dumped her, giving them the right to make a move for her? She didn't think that she could blame Natsume if he had moved on. Having a long distance relationship was difficult, even with the new policies at Gakuen Alice.

Moving away from the door, Mikan took care of her business. She then found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror over the sink after washing her hands. She stared into her hazel eyes and wondered what she would do. Until she knew for sure why she hadn't received any letters from Natsume she couldn't bring herself to believe that their relationship was over.

Mikan returned to the kitchen to find that both Tsubasa and Misaki were awake. Poor Tsubasa Senpai looked like Misaki, whose back was turned towards Mikan as she fixed his shirt collar, had forced him to wake up and had dragged him down the stairs.

"Morning Mikan-chan" Tsubasa greeted her with a yawn. Yu, who was busy preparing breakfast, stiffened at the sound of her name.

Misaki finished forcing Tsubasa's collar into its proper position and turned to greet Mikan. "Morning!" She appraised Mikan's uniform quickly from head to toe and suddenly her smile turned to a look of adoration. "You look so cute!"

Mikan blushed slightly over all of the attention that she was receiving. The uniform skirt was black and white checkered, pleated, and fell to her mid-thigh with a slight flair. Her top was a white pull over short-sleeved cotton shirt that had a v-neck collar. The collar was lined with a black satin ribbon that tied into a bow. The sleeve cuffs were also lined with a black satin ribbon. Natsume's Alice stone laid complementary against her chest at the end of the black cord that hung from her neck.

"Thanks," Mikan said quietly. "You both look nice too," Mikan commented, nodding towards Misaki and Tsubasa. Misaki was dressed in a pair of black Capri pants with a light blue baby doll style top. Tsubasa wore black slacks and a button down short-sleeved white shirt. The top two buttons were undone and the shirt was left untucked. They both would be starting at the Daisen community college today.

Mikan moved further into the kitchen to begin making bentos, lunches, for everyone. Misaki moved to help while Tsubasa slumped onto one of the stools at the counter. "It's too early," he complained with another yawn.

It had been agreed that everyone would share in the responsibilities of making meals and of doing household chores. The dry-erase board was already in place hanging on the kitchen wall. On it was the list of everyone's daily responsibilities. Today, Yu and Tsubasa were scheduled to make breakfast and dinner while Mikan and Misaki were in charge of making bentos. Luka and Hotaru were in charge of dishes. Luka came down in time for breakfast to be served and Hotaru staggered in shortly after. Hotaru had been up late organizing her lab, which she had enlisted the guys help in doing. Yu was the only one of the four of them who didn't complain about being tired.

Hotaru wasn't happy about the idea of having to take the city bus to school. She had been forced to leave behind her scooter and flying machine back at Gakuen Alice. She grumbled throughout their trip to school that morning about how slow the bus was. Once they reached down town, Tsubasa and Misaki went to catch another bus to the college and Mikan, Hotaru, Luka, and Yu walked the last block to their new school.


	4. Ch 3: First day at a New School

GA II

Ch. 3 – First day at a New School

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**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana._ I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

**Author Note: ** Well, I am uploading two chapters this week because the idea I originally had for Ch. 2 ended up turning into two chapters. I also promised o0fuYuHAnAsHIrAZuKI0o that the preview I left at the end of Ch. 1 wasn't going to be the end of the next chapter. ^_^ But I didn't promise that I wouldn't leave the chapter off at a cliffhanger. ^_^ I need to give you guys a reason to want to continue reading the story after all. ^_~

Ch. 4 wont be up until next week at the earliest. I still have 3 assignments to write for school and those have to come first.

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They arrived at their new high school to find a crowd of students greeting each other. This was the first day of a new school year, so many of the students were probably new to the school and meeting up with friends and classmates from their jr. high school. They passed a group of girls who all turned to stare as they passed. Mikan overheard one girl comment about the gorgeous blonde guys, which sent the entire group into a fit of giggles.

Their first stop was at the office where they had been instructed to go to pick up their class schedules. Mikan was surprised to discover that they were separated into two different classes. Hotaru and Yu had been placed in the advanced class while she and Luka were together in one of the average classes. She looked at Hotaru with alarm. They hadn't been in separate classes ever since Mikan followed her best friend to Gakuen Alice. Hotaru met her distraught gaze and reached to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

"You'll have Luka with you, so you won't be alone," Hotaru reminded her calmly.

Mikan pouted in response. Luka wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began to walk with her in the direction that the general assembly was to be held. "Don't worry, Mikan. You'll see Hotaru every day at home," he said soothingly. Hotaru and Yu followed. The general assembly was an introduction and welcoming ceremony for all of the new students. Mikan was shocked to see so many students, and clung to Luka's arm in fear that she might become separated from him and would then get lost. She secretly wished to be back in the familiarity of Gakuen Alice. Even before she entered into Alice Academy, her school had been a small country school without many students in comparison to this.

After the welcoming ceremony the students were instructed to go to their homerooms. Mikan hugged Hotaru without any signs that she would let go. Mikan contemplated dragging Hotaru with to her class and insisting that Hotaru's schedule be changed. Eventually it was Yu's voice that soothed her as he placed a hand on her shoulder, effectively turning her away from Hotaru. "Hey, this can't be as bad as your first day at Gakuen Alice," he told her with a smile.

Mikan slowly nodded, remembering how strange it had been to enter a class filled with Alice owners for the first time. "You're right," she said with a deep breath. "What could possibly happen that would be worse?" She joked and broke into a cheerful smile. "We'll see each other at Lunch, right?" She asked, glancing back at Hotaru, who nodded. They then split into separate directions to head for their homerooms.

In homeroom, Mikan introduced herself at the front of the classroom and was instructed to her seat, which were assigned by name. Unfortunately this meant that Luka was a couple of rows and seats away from where she sat towards the back of the classroom a row away from the windows.

The morning dragged through a couple of classes until it was about the time that they would be going to their physical education class. Mikan looked out of the classroom door with dread. The halls were so crowded. Who knew that there would be so many students at this school? She wondered with longing how Hotaru and Yu were doing in their classes and suddenly wished that they were all together. Luka was by her side a second after she had the thought. "Ready to go?" He asked holding out a hand to help her up. He was taking advantage of the fact that Yu was in a different class.

"Sure," Mikan said after taking a deep breath. Though it felt silly because she didn't have a problem with standing, she accepted his help. Luka followed her to the door to go out into the crowded hall only to bump into her when she suddenly stopped in front of him.

Mikan heard Luka say her name in confusion after he had bumped into her, wondering why she had stopped. Mikan felt frozen in her tracks. When she exited the classroom door a pair of crimson eyes had confronted her.

"Natsume! Wait up!" A girl with her dark hair curled at the base of her neck into two buns called as she ran through the hall in their direction. "Why did you take off so fast like that," she huffed when she finally reached him. She slid her arms around one of his and stared at Mikan with narrowed eyes. "Who is she, is she from your previous school?"

Natsume continued to stare at Mikan in shock. "No," he answered without thinking.

Mikan inhaled a sharp breath at his words. What did he mean no? Who was this other girl? Was she Natsume's girlfriend? Is that why she hadn't received any letters from him in so long? Her heart dropped to her stomach and she suddenly felt sick. She felt Luka's arm slide instantly around her waist when she stumbled awkwardly. She stared into Natsume's familiar crimson eyes for what seemed like forever, though it was only a second, until her vision began to blur as the tears began to pool at the corner of her eyes.

Without warning Mikan spun swiftly out of Luka's arm and fled from the scene, in the opposite direction of her next class.

"Mikan!" Hotaru called after her as she came to a stop behind Natsume. Yu was close behind her. They had both run from their class in the hopes to warn her first. Both Hotaru and Yu had been placed in the same class as Natsume. They had all been surprised to see each other, but hadn't had the time to talk.

Luka turned to glare at Natsume after watching Mikan disappear into the crowd of students. "How could you?" Luka accused.

"Is THIS," Yu jabbed his finger towards the girl hanging onto Natsume's arm, "the reason why she hasn't heard from you in nearly a year?" The girl flinched at his words.

Natsume's head snapped around to face Yu with a look of confusion. "What?" Natsume asked in surprise.

"Do we have a problem here?" The teacher of the classroom in front of which they stood asked as he stepped through the door behind Luca.

"No, nothing," Natsume answered apologetically.

"Then move along to your class," the teacher told them, positioning himself between Luca and Natsume.

Luca was forced to head in the opposite direction that Mikan had run off to. Natsume's class was in the same direction that Mikan had disappeared in, he had been on his way to return to his homeroom after his Physical Education class. The girl still clung to Natsume's arm possessively as they walked down the hall. Hotaru and Yu followed Natsume down the hall back to their classroom. Hotaru kept a reassuring hand on Yu's arm to keep him from making another scene. Yu wasn't usually the type to fight and was usually the peacemaker. Given the current circumstances and the way that he glared at Natsume's back, Hotaru wasn't sure what to expect.

When they came to the entrance to their class, Natsume pulled his arm effortlessly out of the girl's death grip and continued to walk straight ahead.

"Natsume?" She whined, "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," he said with a wave of his hand as if to dismiss her without turning around.

Hotaru pulled Yu into the class in order to keep him from following. "Now's not the time," she reminded him.

Natsume was at the bathroom door before he turned to see if anyone was following him. He let out a sigh of relief and dashed down the hall instead of going into the bathroom. He slipped out of the school entrance and looked around anxiously, hoping that he was right in thinking that she would have left the school. It was a beautiful day. The spring flowers were in bloom and refreshing breeze blew through the air. When his scan of the yard didn't give him any ideas as to where she had gone, Natsume turned right and followed around the school wall, scanning the area as he passed.

It wasn't long until he found her sitting crumpled on the ground nearly hidden behind a flowering bush. He might have missed her if wasn't for the sound of her sobs. He approached her from behind as silently as a cat. He wanted to reach out and sooth her, but first, he needed some answers. "Is it true that you haven't received any of my letters?"

Mikan gasped back a sob at the sound of his voice and her back stiffened. "None," she chocked, wiping frantically at the tears on her face. "Why didn't you tell me that you were interested in another girl? " She asked in a shaky voice that was barley audible. "You should have told me, I…. I would have understood…" she added barely above a whisper and wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to pull herself together again.

"She's not my girlfriend," Natsume informed her with a hint of disgust. "The girls here are just as bad as they were at the Academy, following after me everywhere hoping that I will ask them out." He wasn't looking at her; rather he stared off into the distance as he spoke.

"But you must like her," Mikan observed, folding her hands into her lap and staring at a fixed location on the ground. "You told her that you didn't know me…" she trailed off her sentence.

Natsume looked down at her quickly. "You didn't give me any time to finish what I was saying." He began to say. "She asked me if you were from my previous school, meaning my school in Kuji." Mikan's head snapped up to look at him. Natsume knelt down onto the ground in front of her, never breaking eye contact. "I was going to say that you were from my school before that."

Mikan searched his eyes for the truth. Her heart raced in her chest and her stomach tied in knots. This wasn't the reunion that she had dreamed of the night before. "Why didn't you ever respond to my letters?" Mikan finally found her voice to ask.

"I never received any," he answered with a shake of his head.

"But, I've sent so many," Mikan started to say. "I even wrote another last night that I was going to send to you," Mikan grabbed for her bag and began to rummage through it until she found the envelope that she had addressed to Hyuuga Natsume the night before. She pulled it out quickly to present to him as evidence.

Natsume reached out to accept the letter and stared at it in astonishment. Across the front of the envelope the letter was addressed to his home in Kuji. He suddenly realized that she hadn't received any of his letters, as he had sent one with the information that they would be moving to Daisen. He had included what would be his new address. Mikan believed up until now that he was still in Kuji. He could feel his blood burning through his body and for a moment he believed that he could surely produce a flame from the Alice that he no longer had.

Mikan stared at him nervously, unsure of what to make of his expression. She reached up to feel for his Alice stone, just to be sure that it was still there. She swore that she saw his eyes burn again with the flame that she had stolen.

"Natsume, I don't understand," she whispered, searching his eyes for the answers.

Natsume snapped out of his thoughts to see her look of fear and confusion. Reaching out, he pulled her against him and held her there tightly. "I don't know what's going on," his voice nearly growled against her ear, "but I'm going to find out," he vowed.

Mikan slid her arms under his, wrapping them around his body as she buried her face against his shoulder and cried with relief that they were together again.

Through one of the windows in the halls of the school they were being watched. The girl with the dark hair and double bun hairstyle stared with narrowed eyes at the scene before her. She had excused herself from the classroom, with the excuse of going to the bathroom, in order to find Natsume when he didn't return to class. "We have a problem," she said to herself with a tone of annoyance.

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**Preview of Next Chapter: **

"We moved from Kuji to Daisen last year because there were complications," Mr. Hyuuga, Natsume's Father, explained. "I wrote to Gakuen Alice to inform them of my suspicions. I also asked that all mail between you be ceased... For Natsume's protection," he explained with a troubled look. "I'm sorry for the pain that it has caused you both," he apologized with a pleading look. "It seems that the Academy has decided to take action, though. Which is probably why they sent all of you to Daisen."

(Okay, that may or may not be in Ch. 4. It may be in Ch. 5, depending on how the story develops. I have a few things to explain before I get to this part, but I don't want to give TOO much away. To be honest, this story is completely developing as I write it. I don't have everything layed out, but as I write I am coming up with ideas for where the story will be going.)


	5. Ch 4: Hyuuga's Secret

**GA II**

_Ch. 4 – Hyuuga's secret_

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**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana._ I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

**Author Note: **Oh My Gods, I'm SO Sorry! It's been 2 1/2 months since my last update! Forgive me for taking so long to write this. Things have been **CRAZY** with school and personal life.

So, things don't happen quite exactly like my preview left in the last chapter. After taking a 2 month involuntary break from writing, I forgot that I even wrote that preview. O_o I might be able to use some of it in the next chapter, I don't know yet.

Again, I'm SO SORRY for taking so long on an update. I'll try not to let it happen again.

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The bell signaling the end of the first day of school finally rang. Natsume, who had been waiting in anticipation, was the first one out of the door. He moved with urgency through the hall in the opposite direction that every other student who filed out of his or her classroom took. The afternoon classes seemed to have passed much slower then usual. Since he discovered that his girlfriend, Sakura Mikan, had transferred from Gakuen Alice to Daisen public high school, and now that it was revealed that she hadn't received any of his letters throughout the past year, Natsume wanted answers.

Natsume came to an abrupt halt outside of Mikan's classroom door. Past the students who crowded through the door Natsume spotted her. Mikan still sat at her desk, taking her time to gather her things. Natsume was still having a difficult time believing that she was really there. That Gakuen Alice would allow Alice owners to attend a public high school outside of the safety of the academy, and in a completely different city, was beyond his comprehension. Natsume needed answers.

As he waited for the room to empty, Natsume heard Hotaru and Yu come to a halt behind him. They all agreed during lunch to gather at the Hyuuga residence after school to further discuss the situation. Tsubasa and Misaki were contacted, via Hotaru's cell phone, and instructed where to meet with the rest of the group. Hotaru purposely neglected to mention anything about Natsume being in Daisen to the couple.

When only a few students remained in the classroom, including Mikan and Luca, Natsume entered and made his was towards Mikan's desk. Luca was already there, picking up her school bag. Effortlessly, Natsume relieved Luca of her bag as he walked past and stopped at Mikan's side. As Mikan stood from her desk she caught a glimpse of the intense stare between Natsume and Luca and could feel the tension rising between them. The two old friends continued their disapproval of one another that had began during lunch.

"Don't think that you can just waltz back into her life like nothing has happened over the past year. Don't think that she hasn't moved on as a result of your negligence," Luca stated with a glare. He didn't like the idea of Mikan jumping back into a relationship with his former best friend so easily after all of the hurt that he had caused her.

"For what reasons do you believe that she has moved on?" Natsume questioned in his calm and cool manner.

Mikan stared awkwardly back and forth from one to the other in surprise. The mood felt similar to the past when it had been obvious that they both liked her. Yet, unlike the past, Luca seemed more willing to fight for his cause. Throughout the past year, Luca had been the one who was there for her. Well, both Luca and Yu, really. Though Mikan was careful not to give the impression that she wanted more then friendship from their strange devotion.

"Let's go, Mikan," Natsume said and held out a hand for her to take, as if to invite Mikan to choose between them.

Mikan felt bad for Luca. She loved him much in the same way that she loved Hotaru and her heart ached by the painful expression on his face. She glanced at him apologetically before taking Natsume's hand and allowing him to lead her out of the classroom.

They walked in relative silence. Natsume lead the way with Mikan by his side. Hotaru and Yu followed directly behind while Luca followed more slowly.

As they came closer to the bus stop Mikan was greeted suddenly by a face that she hadn't seen in over a year. "Mikan-chan, is that really you?" Aoi nearly squealed with delight as she hopped up from the bench where she was sitting and glomped onto Mikan in her excitement. "What are you doing here?" Aoi asked as she pulled out of her hug enough to hold Mikan out at arms length and looked her over from head to toe as if checking to be sure that Mikan was really Mikan. Aoi was in her last year at Daisen Jr. High, which was located down the road from the High School, in the opposite direction from the bus stop.

"Anoh…..that's what we're on our way to your house to explain," Mikan explained. "It's good to see you again, Aoi-chan….."

Aoi didn't hear anything else that Mikan said. Her gaze moved to the couple behind her, who she vaguely recognized from her short stay out in the open at Gakuen Alice. "Lu-chan?" Aoi whispered when her eyes fell up the familiar face behind them.

"Huh?" Mikan blinked in confusion, unsure that she had heard Aoi correctly. Mikan stepped to the side and turned to follow Aoi's gaze.

"Lu-chan!" Aoi exclaimed, giving Luca just enough time to look up and brace himself against her tackle.

"Ouf!" Luca let out with surprise when the girl slammed against his chest. He stumbled backwards a few feet and barely caught his balance in time to keep them both from falling to the ground. He looked down with wide eyes of shock at the top of the girl's head. Her arms were wrapped around his waist and she squeezed while hugging him. "Lu-chan?" He repeated the name that he had been called in confusion. There was only one person who called him that, he thought to himself, and that was his mother.

After a couple of seconds of thought he suddenly remembered the second person who ever called him that and inhaled a sharp breath. His eyes couldn't get much wider as he took hold of the girls shoulders and held her out to get a better look at who she was. "Aoi-chan?" He spoke her name in disbelief. It was Natsume's little sister, whom he had known since before they ever went into the Academy.

Aoi raised her head to meet his eyes with her own and beamed a smile up at him. "I can't believe that you're here too! Su----GOI!" She accented the word with her excitement. "What are you guys doing here? I can't believe the Academy let all of you out together…." She started to exclaim without much thought.

"Aoi!" Natsume cut her off abruptly in a stern deep voice. They weren't in such a place where it was appropriate to talk about Gakuen Alice. Aoi clamped her hands over her mouth and shot an apologetic look towards her brother. "We will discuss this at home," Natsume told her and reached his other arm around her shoulders to lead her away from Luca and towards the bus that had just arrived at the stop.

Coincidently the Hyuuga's lived in the same neighborhood as where the group from Gakuen Alice had moved. The Hyuuga's merely lived down further past the bus stop on the next street over. "My, isn't this a coincidence," Luca commented as they turned to walk up the street towards the house.

"I wonder about that," Hotaru responded. Mikan could tell by the look on her best friends face that she was already forming conclusions in her mind about the convenience of the situation.

About midway down the street, Natsume lead the group up the walkway to their Apartment building. The building contained four 2-bedroom apartments. The Hyuuga's apartment was on the second floor of the building. The stairs leading up divided into opposite directions and lead to two separate balconies for each of the two, second floor apartments. The Hyuuga's apartment was to the left. "We're home," Natsume announced as he lead the group through the door. The main room of the apartment served as a living room, dining area, and kitchen. The kitchen was separated from the rest of the room by an island counter.

"Welcome home," Hyuuga-san, Natsume and Aoi's father, responded in greeting. He was in the kitchen with his back to them. After turning around, he froze in surprise at the sight before him. "Mi…Mikan-chan… Nogi-kun…" he stammered in astonishment upon recognizing the two Alices. "What's going on here?" He then asked his son.

"That's what I would like to know," Natsume answered. "For now, we're waiting on a couple more arrivals," he explained before instructing everyone further into the main room after removing their shoes.

"Who?" Hyuuga-san asked, finally moving forward. "Are they all from….," he trailed off his sentence, unsure if it was safe to mention the academy.

"Tsubasa and Misaki," Natsume answered. "They should be on their way. This is Imai Hotaru and Tobita Yu. Yes, they are all from Gakuen Alice," Natsume introduced the two Alices whom his father and sister did not know.

"It is nice to meet you," Hotaru and Yu said in unison with a polite bow.

Hyuuga-san returned their bow in greeting and then approached Mikan. "It is nice to see you again, the academy has been very generous in allowing so many of you to visit at once," he commented.

"Yet don't you find any of this strange?" Natsume cut his father off to ask as he walked to Mikan's side.

"What?" Hyuuga-san asked his son in confusion.

"Mikan hasn't received any of my letters for the past year and she has been sending letters to Kuji this whole time," Natsume explained, presenting the addressed envelop of the letter that Mikan had wrote the night before and originally had planned to mail earlier that day if they hadn't run into one another at school. "Mikan had no idea that we moved to Daisen, and they aren't here for a visit. The Academy sent them here to attend public high school." Natsume further explained to his father, repeating some of what he was told earlier by Mikan. "You don't find that a little odd?"

Hyuuga-san examined the envelop that he son handed to him for a long time, seeming deep in thought.

"What if the Academy is screening Mikan-chan's mail again, and not allowing any of it in or out?" Luca suggested with his arms crossed over his chest. He was sitting rather stiffly on the couch with Aoi next to him appearing especially cheerful.

"For what reason? Azumi-Sensei has worked so hard in the past three years for the benefit of the students. Especially those who are a part of the Special Alice Type and who were part of the Dangerous Alice Type classes," Hotaru replied theoretically, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Either way, I think that we should wait for Tsubasa-san and Misaki-san to arrive before we try to make conclusions," Yu commented, taking on an authoritative position out of habit from his years of being the class representative.

They all agreed with a silent nod. Hotaru sat on the couch next to Aoi. Aoi happily scooted closer to Luca to make more room. Luca's look became more awkward as he contemplated moving to another seat. However, Yu sat in the only chair while Natsume lead Mikan to the two-seater couch where they sat holding hands. Hyuuga-san moved back to the kitchen, where he began to fuss about making tea and arranging store bought dangos on a plate for a snack.

The room was quiet when Hyuuga-san brought the tray of tea and snacks. Everyone seemed mostly lost to their own thoughts. Aoi was smiling to herself about her thoughts as she watched Luca with adoring eyes. Luca's look became thoughtful as he sat leaning forward with his arms rested on his knees. Natsume, Hotaru, and Yu's looks seemed vacant, as if their minds weren't truly in the room. Mikan slid from the couch onto the floor to take care of the tea that Hyuuga-san set on the table in the middle of the living room area of the room. She had just finished pouring the tea and began to pass out the cups when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Natsume spoke and stood abruptly to head towards the door. Mikan handed the cup in her hands to Luca and followed Natsume to the door.

"Na….Natsume-kun!?" Tsubasa and Misaki spoke simultaneously when Natsume opened the door.

"What's going on here?" Tsubasa asked, moving his gaze to Mikan, who stood beside Natsume. "I thought he was in Kuji?"

"So did I," Mikan answered meekly.

"Obviously, I'm not," Natsume responded at the same time as Mikan.

Mikan wrapped her arms around one of Natsume's to pull him away from the door so that her Senpai's could enter. "We're all here to discuss the situation," she spoke nervously.

Mikan and Natsume lead Tsubasa and Misaki into the living room where everyone sat. Yu was now sitting on the arm of the couch beside Hotaru, having given the chair up for Hyuuga-san to sit in. Tsubasa and Misaki were offered the two-seat couch to sit in and Mikan knelt beside the table to finish serving the tea and snacks while Natsume stood not that far away from her looking like he might start pacing the room at any moment.

When Mikan finished passing out the teacups and offering dango sticks, Hyuuga-san was the first to speak. "Before anyone begins, there is something that I need to explain," he began to say, bringing everyone's attention to him. "It was because of my request that all mail between you was ceased," Hyuuga-san confessed to his son and to Mikan with a sorrowful glance. Mikan covered a hand over her mouth in surprise and stared at him with wide eyes. Natsume was taken back; his arms came unfolded from his chests and fell to his side with his hands curling unintentionally into fists as he took a step back to stare at his father with disbelief. "Gomen nasai, I am sorry, but please listen to my reasons," He apologized sincerely. The others in the room watched the interaction and listened, stunned to silence.

"Why?" Mikan managed to ask in a muffled voice through the hand that still covered her mouth.

"While in Kuji, I began to notice that we were being watched by a small group," Hyuuga-san began to explain. He had become extremely overprotective of his children since they were returned to him. "At first I thought that I was just being paranoid, but throughout the couple of years that we lived in Kuji, there were at least 3 different men that I started to recognize and began to see at least one of them everywhere that we went." Unconsciously, Natsume's fists began to relax at his side as he continued to stare at his father, completely unaware of the situation that was being described. There were a few gasps from the others in the room. Mikan shifted so that she could look at Natsume and reached up for one of his hands.

"There was also something that I didn't explain to the administrators of Gakuen Alice," Hyuuga-san continued to say. Everyone watched him expectantly, except for Aoi who was now looking down at her hands, which were folded in her lap, and wore a somber expression. "That Aoi-chan seems to have developed a second Alice."

Natsume's head snapped over to look at his sister with complete shock. Neither his father nor his sister had told him anything about this.


	6. Ch 5: The Request

**GA II**

_Ch. 5 – The Request_

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**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana._ I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

**Author Note: **This chapter ended up to be about 1000 words shorter then the last. Sorry about that. I'll make the next one longer. I'm on my week long break between terms. I'm not sure if I'll get Ch. 6 done before Wednesday, but I'll see what I can do. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter! ^_^

* * *

"Now make sure that you walk Mikan home," Misaki told Natsume as she pulled Tsubasa out of the door.

"I can go home with you now," Mikan protested as she hurried to follow.

"Don't be silly, we're not going straight home," Misaki countered with a wave of a hand while she pushed Tsubasa to walk down the stairs.

"Well, okay…" Mikan replied, more to herself then to her senpai's.

"I've got some lab work to do," Hotaru informed Mikan, pushing past her through the door and dragging Yu behind her. "Come on Luca, I could use your help too," Hotaru called over her shoulder.

"Actually, I was hoping that I could talk to Lu-chan," Aoi replied to Hotaru. Hotaru only shrugged and continued to pull Yu out the door and down the stairs. Luca looked uncomfortable with Aoi's arms wrapped around one of his to stop him from leaving. "Could we go for a walk?" Aoi asked him.

"I don't think so," Natsume spoke up sternly, causing Aoi to look at him with a pleading look.

"Demo, but, Lu-chan can protect me if anything happens," Aoi protested with a pout.

"How? By calling upon the squirrels to attack?" Natsume replied mockingly. "I don't think so, the situation is much more dangerous then that," he stated, unwilling to back down.

"Natsume is right," Luca said while trying to pull his arm free from Aoi's hold.

"Then we can talk in my room," Aoi suggested, her mood quickly becoming cheerful. "Is that okay, Otou-san?" Aoi asked her father with a hopeful expression.

Hyuuga-san evaluated the situation. Neither he nor Aoi had told Natsume about her second Alice, nor about the strangers who had been watching them when they lived in Kuji, knowing that he would feel like it was his responsibility to somehow protect the family, even if he no longer had his Alice. Hyuuga-san nodded his permission.

"Thank you, Daddy," Aoi said sweetly and began to pull an unwilling Luca, who looked pleadingly at Mikan for help, towards her room.

"I'll just wait and walk home with Luca-pyon later," Mikan said quietly and sat down on the edge of a chair in the living room. Natsume's mood had changed drastically after he was told about Aoi developing a second Alice. He looked much the same as when Mikan first met him at the academy; hard, distant, and as if the world's burdens were carried on his shoulders.

"Don't be stupid, I'll take you home now," Natsume spoke abruptly and headed towards the door, expecting her to follow without having to say another word.

Once Aoi had managed to pull Luca into her room she moved around him to close the door behind them. Luca watched with uncertainty as she blocked his escape path. "What is this all about?" He asked with a tone of annoyance.

Aoi turned slowly to face him. She leaned her back against the door and crossed her arms over her chest to glare at him. Luca took a step back under the weight of her stare. "Na…nani?" He stuttered.

"I thought that you were Onii-chan's best friend!" It wasn't a question it was an accusation.

"What are you talking about? Of course I am," Luca replied in haste.

"Then why are you going after Mikan-chan?" Aoi asked in a tone that reminded him of her brother. Her crimson colored eyes were boring through him. For a moment Luca pictured Natsume himself confronting him with the same question. It caused Luca to take another step back. This time he tripped over his own feet and landed with a hard thud on the floor. Aoi moved to stand over him with her hands on her hips. "I understand that Mikan-chan has had a difficult time with everything that has happened over the past year, but at least she hasn't betrayed Onii-chan!" Aoi continued to say.

Luca scrambled to his feet and felt his back against Aoi's dresser. One of the handles poked angrily into his back. "Wait a second," he protested, raising his hands in front of himself defensively. "I haven't done anything to Mikan-chan. How have I betrayed Natsume?"

"You may not have betrayed him physically, but all this time you have thought that Onii-chan abandoned Mikan-chan and have wished to take her as your own girlfriend!" Aoi was now standing only centimeters away from him on her tiptoes, trying to confront him directly to his face, despite their height difference. Luca stared down at her with wide eyes. His heels were raised from the floor in his attempt to escape, and the only way that he was able to go was up.

Luca's mind raced as he tried to understand how Aoi knew all of this. It finally clicked when he remembered traveling back in time with Mikan, Natsume, Hotaru, and Noda Sensei, where they learned about Natsume's mother. Her Alice had been the Memory Processing Alice, which allowed her to know the memories of anyone she touched. Luca went white as a ghost as his color drained suddenly. So that was the second Alice that Aoi had received. "Nothing happened….." Luca began to say. He had his hands on the top of her dresser and was about to lift himself up in order to get further away from her. "besides, Natsume and I have both liked Mikan in the past. I'm sure he knows and doesn't see it as a betrayal under the circumstances. It's a guy thing," Luca explained hurriedly.

To his relief Aoi took a step back and turned her back to him. "I don't understand it." She spoke quietly while she tried to process her thoughts. "That is the feeling that I have been getting from Onii-chan all this time. It has been as if he is grateful to you for taking care of her," she continued to say, more to herself then to him.

"Yes, I do care about Mikan-chan, a lot," Luca admitted, relaxing his posture. "I would have taken her from him if I discovered that he really did abandon her," he spoke shamelessly. "However, I have learned that none of this was his fault or intention. He obviously still loves her. I'm not one to fight against that and risk not only losing his friendship, but hers as well."

Meanwhile, Mikan silently followed Natsume back up his street to the main street on which she lived. He seemed so distant. She wasn't sure of how to reach him. To think that the Academy had filtered her mail. Did her mother know? Mikan couldn't imagine that her mother would be a part of it. Her mother was helping to rebuild the Academy for the good of the students, after all. Surely her mother didn't know anything about this. Yet, was it a coincidence that the Academy had sent four of it's top students to study at a public school? And what was with the Hyuuga's being watched when they lived in Kuji? Who were they? Did they have anything to do with the previous elementary school principal from Gakuen Alice, sent to spy on Natsume? To learn whether he still had his fire Alice?

Mikan's head spun with her thoughts. She couldn't help but to wonder what was going on. Did the Academy know something that they didn't? Did the Academy know that the Hyuuga's were here? Tsubasa Senpai mentioned calling the Academy tomorrow for answers. Mikan hoped that Tsubasa would have some good news to share afterwards.

"Oi, why are you being so pokey, Polka Dots?" She heard Natsume call to her from afar. He hadn't called her by that nickname in a long time. Mikan couldn't believe that she had missed hearing it. She focused out of her thoughts to find that he stood at the end of the block, a good 10 meters away from her. She sprinted to catch up. "What are you smiling about?" Natsume asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You called me Polka Dots," Mikan told him through her giggle.

"Yeah?" Natsume watched her as if she had lost her mind.

"Well, it's just that I haven't heard it for so long, I can't believe that I missed it," Mikan explained taking both of his hands into her own and smiling up at him sweetly.

The layer of ice that seemed to have formed over his heart a few hours ago melted and the color crept into his cheeks as he raised one of his hands to the back of his head. She brought a slight smile to his lips. He gently squeezed her hand and they continued to walk down the main street towards the bus stop, walking past it towards Mikan's house.

"Mikan," Natsume spoke her name and stopped on the sidewalk at the edge of her property line. She stopped to look at him curiously. "I want you to give me back my Alice," he said, taking her completely by surprise.

Mikan reached protectively for the Alice stone that hung around her neck. "Demo?" She began to say with wide frightened eyes. Natsume placed a finger over her mouth to stop her protest.

"If things get as bad as I fear they might, I'm going to need a way to protect you and Aoi," Natsume hushed her softly. "My body has been healed from the previous damage caused by my Alice. I have had 3 years to recover without it. My life should come to no danger as long as I do not overuse it."

Tears began to pool at the corner of her eyes. Mikan clinched the stone against her chest and took a step back, away from him. "I….I don't know if I can. I've never given one back before. Okaa-san has always been the one to do that."

"I believe in you," Natsume replied, taking a step towards her.

"Now?" Mikan questioned in shock and continued to back away from him. "I can't…..I…I'm not ready," Mikan shook her head again and again with fright. "What if something goes wrong? What if I can't return it? What if you die?" She rambled in panic.

"Mikan, calm down. It doesn't have to be now. I can wait until you're ready," Natsume tried to speak soothingly, but Mikan continued to back away, shaking her head in a panic.

"I don't want you to die…." Her voice nearly cracked as the dam holding back her tears crumbled.

"Mikan, I'm not going to die," Natsume tried to reason with her, but she turned and ran towards the house. With a heavy sigh he watched as she disappeared through the door, knowing that nothing good would come from pursuing her. He would have to wait until tomorrow for a hope to convince her that without his Alice they could all die.

Natsume turned to head back home, passing Luca along the way. Neither said anything to the other though, for they both had a lot on their minds to consider.


	7. Ch 6: Confrontation

**GA II**

_Ch. 6 - Confrontation_

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**Author Note:** Another short chapter. I hope that you all enjoy it. I can't promise when the next update will be. I've got a busy term/season coming up. Thanks so much for your patience! I Love You All!

**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana_. I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

Enjoy! ^_^

* * *

Natsume woke early the next morning and headed off to the bus stop before Aoi's knowing touch could give his plan away. He planned to confront Mikan again about his request and hoped to reason with her. He needed his Alice back if he was to protect those important to him.

His sister's second Alice, the Memory Processing Alice, could be bothersome if Aoi became aware of Mikan's reaction from the night before when he asked her to return his Alice.

Being the first one from their group to arrive at the bus stop, Natsume leaned back against a nearby tree and watched the morning commotion of travelers, on their way to work or school, with caution. That fact that someone had been watching him and his family for the past 3 years angered him. He was angry at himself for not having noticed long before now. His senses were on full alert, whereby any stranger on the street could be a potential enemy. He stood there, guarded against any possible incoming attack, and waited. Though he was reasonably certain that no one in their right mind would cause a problem in public during the busiest part of the day, because if he actually had felt threatened he wouldn't have left Aoi to walk alone, he was on edge as the result of an ingrained instinct that had been drilled into him back when he worked for the previous elementary school principal at Gakuen Alice.

Yuu was the first to be seen walking towards the bus stop. A couple of yards behind him, Hotaru and Luca could be seen walking, followed by Tsubasa and Misaki who looked like they were herding the two directly in front of them. Natsume moved away from the tree and began to walk towards the group. He passed Yuu, completely ignoring his greeting. Hotaru and Luca parted even further from one another as Natsume marched right between them without any acknowledgement.

"Where is Mikan?" Natsume approached Tsubasa to ask in a rush.

Misaki wrapped an arm around Tsubasa's and pulled him away from Natsume. They had been standing very close and it looked as if they were about to get into it over seemingly nothing. "What do you mean? Isn't she with you?" Misaki responded in Tsubasa's place. Tsubasa looked stunned and somewhat dazed. He was still half asleep.

Natsume's attention turned towards Misaki. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you saying that you don't know where she is?"

Misaki raised an eyebrow herself and glared at him as if he were mocking her. "No, I'm saying that I thought she was with you."

"Well, obviously she's not!" Natsume stated, returning her glare. He was about to take a step closer to her but found that he couldn't move. Returning his attention to Tsubasa he found that the shadow manipulator suddenly seemed to be wide awake.

"Watch it, Natsume-kun," Tsubasa spoke calmly, pointing down to Natsume's shadow on the sidewalk, which Tsubasa was standing on.

Natsume glared at Tsubasa dangerously. If he still had his fire Alice, Natsume imagined burning Tsubasa's pointing finger in spite. He opened his mouth to speak but the sound was replaced by a yell and the sound of running footsteps behind him.

"Nii-CHAN!!!" Aoi yelled as she ran towards her brother. "How could you leave without me? You're so cruel!" She complained with a pout as she came to a halt at his side and wrapped her arms around one of his.

Aoi stared from Natsume to Tsubasa and to Misaki, taking a moment to analyze the situation, before returning her gaze to her brother. Within the next moment she narrowed her eyes to stare at him in disbelief. "What did you do?" She asked venomously.

"Forget it," Natsume spat angrily and turned, relieved that he could move, to return to the bus stop.

"What a minute," Misaki called after him. "If Mikan isn't with you, then where is she?"

"How would I know?" Natsume called over his shoulder as he tried to shake his arm free from his sister's hold. Aoi still glared at him accusingly and stubbornly held tighter to him.

"Mikan left for school already," Hotaru chimed in to announce. They all focused their attention to her simultaneously. "She left a note in our room," she answered their unspoken question.

At that same moment the bus arrived at the stop. Natsume pulled free from Aoi's hold with a final yank of his arm out of hers and left the others behind to quickly board the bus. The others followed, staring from one another in confusion. Only Aoi knew what was going on, and she was currently keeping her mouth shut about it. She boarded the bus to find that her brother had managed to find a seat on the crowded bus somewhere that was inaccessible for her to follow without being rude to the other passengers.

When they arrived at their final stop, where they all separated to head to their different schools, Natsume was gone before Aoi could confront him about the situation that she saw through her Alice. She caught Luca watching her curiously when she turned to go in the direction of her Jr. High. It had not been revealed to everyone, the night before, what her second Alice was. Luca merely figured it out because Aoi had confronted him with what she had seen of his memories about what had happened in Mikan's life for the past year. She shook her head at him and mouthed the word 'later,' to him before she continued in the opposite direction from where he would be heading.

At the high school, Mikan had arrived early, wishing to avoid Natsume. It was her hope that if he didn't see her for awhile then he might forget about his request that she returned his Alice to him. She didn't think that it was fair for him to risk his life again in order to protect everyone. After doing a lot of thinking the night before, she came to the conclusion that they all must have been sent to Daisen because the Academy knew about the situation and this was their way of protecting the Hyuuga's. Therefore, Mikan reasoned in her mind that she, Hotaru, Luca, Yuu, Tsubasa, and Misaki were responsible for finding out whoever it is that was watching Natsume and his family and to come up with a plan for dealing with them.

At the moment Mikan stood down the hall from their classrooms, around a corner where she kept a look out for Natsume and hoped to see him go into his classroom before she ran into hers at the last minute. Even if she ended up being late, Mikan decided that it was worth it, considering the current situation.

Watching the hall clock, Mikan discerned that the group should arrive at any moment. She was relieved for the crowded halls today, though it made it harder to spot any one particular person.

Mikan's attention was so focused on the activities down the hall that she didn't notice the person standing beside her. "Looking for someone?" Mikan heard the extra sugary sweet, semi childish voice ask, seemingly only a few centimeters from her ear. Mikan jumped in shock and collided into a garbage can, which was knocked over. Losing her balance, Mikan stumbled and fell against a wall. She stared with a wide eyed, deer in the headlights, look at the girl who stood before her. The girl was the same one who had been hanging all over Natsume in the hallway yesterday, the one with the dark hair that was tied back into two buns at the nap of her neck. Upon closer inspection, Mikan could see that the girl had a petite frame, was tall, and looked as if she could be a model. Surely, Mikan couldn't compare if the other girl honestly wanted to steel Natsume away as a boyfriend. The girl was now staring at her with a smirk of amusement and disgust.

"Anou, n….no… well, not really," Mikan stammered uncertainly.

"Oh, then did you forget where your classroom is? If you did, I can help you find it," The girl said innocently with a sweet smile.

"No…I'm okay, thank you," Mikan replied, confused by the girls kindness.

"So, are you Natsume's girlfriend?" The girl asked suddenly, taking a step closer to Mikan with her eyes narrowed.

"Wh…what? Girlfriend?" Mikan repeated, surprised by the girls sudden change in attitude. Mikan felt threatened under the girls inquiring glare and wished that she could disappear into the wall behind her.

"Because, if you're not, then stay away from him! I'll make Natsume mine!" The girl warned, not giving Mikan a chance to answer.

Mikan's heart pounded wildly in her chest. Her breath quickened as she reached up to take hold of Natsume's Alice stone, where it hung around her neck. She wondered about the other's girl's nerve as she stepped away from the wall to confront the girl. Mikan opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off, again.

"What is that?" The other girl asked and reached menacingly for the necklace around Mikan's neck.

"Hey, let go!" Mikan yelled in anger as she grabbed at the girls hand with her free one, refusing to let go of the Alice stone.

The other girl continued to pull on the black cord that held the stone. Mikan attempted to pull away while attempting to pry the girls hold off of the cord with only one hand. "What are you doing! Let Go!" Mikan screamed.

A crowd began to form around them and someone shouted, "Fight!" A sudden explosion of white light forced the other girl to release her hold on Mikan's necklace as she flew back against the crowd. Mikan was also forced back against the crowd by the explosion of energy.

"Move aside, let me through. What's going on here!" One of the teachers exclaimed as he tried to force his way through the crowd of students.

Mikan stared at the other girl in wonder. What had happened? It felt familiar. Almost like the time that she had canceled out Natsume's Alice with her Nullification Alice. Mikan's gaze wandered down to the cord that the other girl wore around her neck. Mikan hadn't noticed it before. Now that she stared at it, however, Mikan recognized it for what it was, an Alice Stone. Mikan's eyes widened but her vision was blocked when the teacher who had been fighting his way through the crowd stepped between them.


	8. Ch 7: After School Detention

**GA II**

_Ch. 7: After School Detention_

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I am SO sorry that it took me so long to write this chapter! I really haven't been feeling well for the past week or so. I'll try to get the next chapter up a lot sooner then this one.

**Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice** belongs to _HIGUCHI Tachibana_. I do not claim any rights to the original characters or the setting. Only the ideas for this fanfiction series are my own.

* * *

"What's going on here? What was that flash?" Sensei asked while standing between Mikan and the girl with the double bun hairstyle. His hands were on his hips and he looked sternly down at Mikan, his back was to the other girl. Mikan was still staring wide eyed through Sensei's legs at the girl across from her. Neither could believe what had happened and they were staring at one another in shock. The other girl also had an Alice stone that she wore around her neck, and she had tried to use it, but Mikan's Alice nullified it.

"Gomen nesai, I'm sorry, Sensei. It's my fault," a familiar voice caught Mikan's attention and she looked up in surprise.

"You, Hyuuga-san? This is your fault?" The sensei asked in disbelief. Natsume had pushed his way through the crowd and was standing beside Mikan.

"Yes sir, it's my fault," Natsume repeated himself. "It was a flash pellet. I used it to end the confrontation," Natsume explained, regarding the flash of light that had actually been created by Mikan's Alice.

The teacher stood unmoving, unsure of how to react. Natsume took the opportunity to help Mikan to her feet. "V…very well, Hyuuga-san," Sensei stammered. Mikan stared from the teacher to Natsume in awe and blinked. It was difficult to imagine that Natsume had such a good reputation in this town that he could get away with having a flash pellet and not be questioned why.

"Are you alright?" Natsume took advantage of the teacher's silence to ask Mikan, who nodded her response and didn't argue when one of his arms wrapped around her waist to pull her protectively against his hard chest. The girl behind Sensei scrambled to her feet and was now standing with her arms crossed over her chest and glaring at Mikan.

"Both of you," Sensei finally found his voice to speak. He moved to the side so that he could address both of the girls. "I'll give you a warning, only because Sakura-san is new here. You both are to clean your respective classes after school today, do you understand!" he finally dealt out their punishment. "Now everyone, get to class!" he stated, turning to shoo the crowd that had gathered away from the scene.

The other girl was the first to disappear as she walked hurriedly down the hall with her head held high. People parted as she walked towards them to allow for her passage, as if she were a queen. Natsume silently guided Mikan towards her class, keeping his arm firmly around her waist. "B..be careful of her, Natsume, she has an Alice stone," Mikan spoke quietly as they walked. When Natsume didn't respond, Mikan looked up over her shoulder at him. She was both surprised and a little nervous to find that he stared intensely down the hall as they walked. His eyes burned with an old furry. "N…natsume?" she asked, trying to draw his attention back to her, but he continued to guide her into her classroom. Mikan blushed when she realized that everyone in the room was staring at them, including Luka.

Natsume lead her to her desk and turned her to face him. "We'll discuss this with everyone afterschool, until then, don't say anything. I'll be waiting for you to finish your cleaning duty," he spoke quietly. Only Ruka, who had approached Mikan's desk, was close enough to hear as well.

"Demo…..," Mikan started to say, but her sentence was cut off before it could even begin when he bent to kiss her in front of the entire class. When he released her, Mikan slid weakly into her seat. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She wondered what had gotten into him, but couldn't bring herself to be mad at him.

"Keep her safe," Natsume placed his hand on Luka's shoulder and spoke in his ear before turning to leave the classroom.

During the morning classes Mikan couldn't help but to tap her pencil on her desk impatiently. She was worried about Natsume being in the same classroom as _That Girl._ She could at least protect herself with her nullification Alice. Natsume didn't have an Alice anymore to protect himself with, and here he was being more worried about her then he was about himself. Mikan dropped her head on her desk in frustration. There was a loud thump that interrupted the teacher's lecture.

"Is there a problem, Sakura-san?" sensei asked, turning from the chalkboard where he was writing a complicated math formula.

Mikan jumped in her seat and straightened her back to look forward. "N…no, I'm sorry…" She stammered.

"Perhaps you already know this formula?" Sensei suggested. Mikan stared at the problem on the board in astonishment. In truth, she hadn't been paying attention at all. She hadn't ever seen this formula before. "Then why don't you come up and demonstrate your expertise on the subject matter, since it seems to be boring you to pay attention," he instructed sternly.

Mikan gulped, she didn't have the slightest idea how to solve the problem. She glanced towards Luca's seat and caught his gaze with a silent plea for help. He nodded in response. After nervously standing she walked up the aisle in which Luca's desk was in. As she was about to pass his desk, she pretended to trip and drop her notebook. She bent quickly to pick it up. At that same moment, Luka purposely dropped his notebook, on which she found that he had solved the problem from the board.

"Please hurry, Sakura-san, this disruption has held up my class long enough," Sensei demanded from the front of the classroom.

After picking up both notebooks, Mikan handed hers to Luka, which thankfully was the same color as his, and caught his gaze with a smile of thanks. "You dropped this," she spoke out loud, in order to fool the class, and walked to the blackboard to solve the problem. The teacher watched unknowing of the exchange and raised an eyebrow of surprise when she wrote the correct answer.

Mikan returned to her seat with a sigh of relief. She still had Luca's notebook, and hoped he wouldn't mind that she used it to keep notes. Perhaps if she actually paid attention to the lecture, she could get her mind off of the events from that morning. She turned the page in Luca's notebook to find a note written to her. It read; _"Don't worry about Natsume. Hotaru and Yu are with him." _Mikan looked towards Luca with a smile of relief. His back was to her, though, so he didn't see it.

Mikan managed to concentrate through the rest of the morning "on her subjects" until it was finally time for Gym. She jumped up, eager to get into the crowded hall. Natsume's class would be returning to their homeroom from gym now, and she was anxious to see with her own two eyes that he was okay. She found him waiting outside of her classroom door with Hotaru and Yu. The double bun hairstyle girl wasn't anywhere to be seen. Mikan eagerly hugged Natsume and placed something in the palm of his hand that she had been working on all morning while pretending to pay attention during class. After they separated, Mikan felt more at ease about not being able to stay by his side. Natsume opened his hand to find an orange colored stone, one of Mikan's Alice stones.

Lunch and the afternoon classes went by uneventfully. As agreed upon that morning, none of them spoke of the morning situation and the double bun girl stayed out of their sight. After school, Mikan attended to the classroom under the watch of her Sensei. Everyone else was kicked outside to wait until she was finished.

Mikan swept the floor, cleared off the chalk board, cleaned out the erasers, and gathered the trash. She walked to the hall where she found her sensei and the teacher from the room down the hall talking. She didn't eavesdrop on purpose, but she happened to overhear that the double bun hairstyle girl, whose name she now learned was Ishii, Rin, had skipped her detention. Before she could hear anything more, the teacher from down the hall spotted her and made a gesture to her Sensei that make him turn around. Mikan held up the trash bag, "After I take this out, I am done," she told him. He nodded and she passed them to take the garbage out. She moved quickly and hurried back to the classroom to gather her school bag. Now that she knew that Rin wasn't where she was suppose to be, Mikan was anxious to get outside and verify that Natsume was okay. The teacher's were nowhere to be seen when she returned, so she hurried out the door.

At first, she didn't see anyone when she left the school. Mikan hurried down the front walk towards the school gates. When she got there she was grabbed suddenly from behind and pulled aside, towards the brick pillar. Without thinking she grabbed Natsume's Alice stone and a sphere of flame surrounded her. Her captor released her immediately and she tumbled to the opposite brick pillar of the front gate.

"Itai!" Her captor shouted behind her, but to her dismay she recognized the voice. She spun around quickly and raised her hand to cover a gasp. Her captor had been Natsume! He stared at her with a surprised expression. "How did you learn how to do that?"

"Oh my gosh! I'm SO Sorry!" Mikan cried and ran back to him. She was frantically checking him over for burns.

"I'm okay," he tried to tell her over and over, but she wouldn't listen. Finally he gripped her shoulders and forced her to look up at his face. "I said I'm fine," he said in a soothing voice. Mikan stared at him with wide frightened eyes. The last time something like this had happened was when Yoichi had purposely scared her at the Haunted House at one of the festivals at Gakuen Alice. It wasn't long after Mikan had acquired Natsume's Alice Stone. They learned then that his Alice could protect her when she was caught off guard. "I'm so sorry," she apologized again, "but you scared me, a…and I was already on the defense because Ishii didn't go to her detention."

Natsume nodded, "I know, she wasn't in class this afternoon either."

Mikan blinked in surprise and was taken back for a moment until she noticed that the rest of the group wasn't around. "Where is everyone?"

"They were picked up and taken back to your place. They are waiting for us there," Natsume told her while taking her hand to lead her down the street towards the bus stop.

"Wait a second," Mikan demanded. Natsume was walking with urgency, and Mikan was still processing what he had just said. "What do you mean that they were picked up?" she asked in confusion.

"The Academy sent a few people to follow up on Shadow Boy's last report," Natsume replied, without slowing down.


End file.
